Beckmann Sketchbook 10 1915

This is Max Beckmann’s Sketchbook 10, a simple brown notebook. It’s undated, so we don’t know exactly when he made it, but what intrigues me here is the idea of a sketchbook itself, artmaking as a process, not an end result. I’m drawn to the texture of the cover - the way the fabric is worn around the edges, telling a story of use and time. You can almost feel the weight of it, the history it holds. It reminds me of Philip Guston's rough and ready approach. Think about how a sketchbook functions: a place for trying things out, for making mistakes, for playing around, like visual thinking in real time. Each page offers a new beginning, a chance to explore a different idea or approach. Maybe it’s not so much about what’s inside, but the potential it represents. I like that it embraces ambiguity. It opens up a space of possibility.